"That's just the beginning." His mouth tightens. "Believe me, I've spent quite some time with the same questions you've got. I'll get there. I promise. It starts with explaining about Meredith, and what she did, and why. Because her preferred method of dealing with things was to take away more and more of the rights and privileges of the Circle. With even harsher punishments for those outside who aided and abetted mages."
Cullen rubs the back of his neck. "I think -- about a year before the Chantry explosion, she even started having us questioned weekly, to try to find and expel any one of us who might have any kind of sympathy for the mages. And it was an open secret that the Champion of Kirkwall and her friends harbored apostates, and that Anders ran a free clinic for Fereldan refugees in Darktown. I -- it was helpful, I suppose, how much everyone else in Kirkwall hated Fereldans, and how occupied Meredith was with other things. That's why Anders lasted as long as he did, even though nearly everyone knew about the healer in Darktown. And of course even Meredith would have extreme difficulty bringing in friends of the Champion."
He glances briefly at Ysalwen. "The other part of this is the Grand Cleric, who was in the Chantry at the time. She... was the only one in the city with the authority to stop Meredith who was also the least likely to fall victim to whatever counterstrike Meredith would plan. Her method of keeping peace, for years, was to do nothing. She didn't rein in Meredith, but she didn't openly support her, either. It was the same thing with the First Enchanter. And so we had this... situation... that just kept building and building for years, and meanwhile we grew more and more afraid and the world of the Circle mages got smaller and smaller. And into that went Anders, and the mage resistance, along with the smugglers, gangs, cultists, and everyone else."
He wonders, briefly, if he sounds as exhausted as he feels.
"It seemed as though everything just got... more and more extreme. And then on the day Meredith called for the Right of Annulment... that was the day Anders blew up the Chantry. If he felt that was the only way he could get everyone's attention, or was looking for some way to get the last word in the city's madness..." Cullen shakes his head. "I cannot say I understand it. But even I can see it wasn't senseless."
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Cullen rubs the back of his neck. "I think -- about a year before the Chantry explosion, she even started having us questioned weekly, to try to find and expel any one of us who might have any kind of sympathy for the mages. And it was an open secret that the Champion of Kirkwall and her friends harbored apostates, and that Anders ran a free clinic for Fereldan refugees in Darktown. I -- it was helpful, I suppose, how much everyone else in Kirkwall hated Fereldans, and how occupied Meredith was with other things. That's why Anders lasted as long as he did, even though nearly everyone knew about the healer in Darktown. And of course even Meredith would have extreme difficulty bringing in friends of the Champion."
He glances briefly at Ysalwen. "The other part of this is the Grand Cleric, who was in the Chantry at the time. She... was the only one in the city with the authority to stop Meredith who was also the least likely to fall victim to whatever counterstrike Meredith would plan. Her method of keeping peace, for years, was to do nothing. She didn't rein in Meredith, but she didn't openly support her, either. It was the same thing with the First Enchanter. And so we had this... situation... that just kept building and building for years, and meanwhile we grew more and more afraid and the world of the Circle mages got smaller and smaller. And into that went Anders, and the mage resistance, along with the smugglers, gangs, cultists, and everyone else."
He wonders, briefly, if he sounds as exhausted as he feels.
"It seemed as though everything just got... more and more extreme. And then on the day Meredith called for the Right of Annulment... that was the day Anders blew up the Chantry. If he felt that was the only way he could get everyone's attention, or was looking for some way to get the last word in the city's madness..." Cullen shakes his head. "I cannot say I understand it. But even I can see it wasn't senseless."